1990:  Scott Davis got his putter going in the final round and shot a four-under-par 68 at Bridgeport Country Club to capture his second West Virginia Open title.  Davis overcame a four-stroke deficit and edged Mike White by a single stroke.   Davis got better every round with 75, 72 and 68 for a 215 total while White matched par 72 in every round for a 216 score to finish second for the second straight year.  “”I’m flabbergasted, I really am,” Davis said. “I’ve been playing every year since I won it in ’82 and have not done too well. It’s just really good to get another Open win.”   Davis struggled with his putter early with three three-putts in the first round and two three-putts and a four-putt in the second round.  “Today I played without a three-putt,  I could have had a real good score this week because I hit the ball real well ,” Davis said after the final round.  Defending champion Todd Satterfield, now a pro, led the first round with a 71 and ended up fourth at 218. Cleve Coldwater shot the week’s best round, a six-under 66 with 11 birdies, including the final four holes.  He led by a stroke after the second round but finished in a tie for fifth at 219.  Chris Ward was the low amateur at 217 and finished third.  Jon Stricker had a finishing 68 for 220.   Leaders by rounds: first, Satterfield 71, by one; second, Coldwater 143, by one.

Scott Davis, Hurricane                  75-72-68–215
Mike White, Lochgelly                    72-72-72–216
a-Chris Ward, Beaver                    73-72-72–217
Todd Satterfield, Bluefield            71-75-72–218
Dick Wedzik, Bridgeport                76-70-73–219
Cleve Coldwater, Charleston       77-66-76–219
Jon Stricker, Charleston                77-75-68–220
a-Scott Gilmore, Vienna                 76-71-73–220
Matt Cooke, Parkersburg               74-72-75–221
Ty Roush, Mason                            78-72-72–222
a-Jim Fankhauser, Vienna            77-70-75–222
Brad Westfall, Kingwood               72-72-78–222

 

1991:  After finishing second the last two years, Mike White moved up to first this time with a one-stroke victory at Moundsville Country Club.  White began the final round four strokes back but shot a 69 to finish with a score of even-par 210.  Charleston pro Bob Bird also carded a final 69 to finish second at 211.   Brian Meade of Chapmanville, the son of two-time champion Linden Meade, opened the tournament with a five-birdie round of 66 for a four-stroke lead and a second-round 71 kept him two strokes in front.  But Meade settled for a 75 on the last day to finish third at 212.  White, who lives in Lochgelly near Oak Hill, earned $1,400 and became a two-time Open champion, having won in 1980.  He felt a key to his victory was a birdie on the 395-yard 17th hole.  “”I just kept plugging along out there.  That’s the way I play.  I don’t ever play to finish second.  I came up here to win,” White said.  Defending champion Scott Davis fired a 67 in the second round and was just two shots off  the pace until a final 75 left him tied for fifth at 214.  Harold Payne posted a 68 in the second round and ended up as the low amateur at 215.  Hill Herrick of  The Greenbrier aced the 203-yard 14th hole in the second round.  Leaders by rounds: first, Meade 66, by four; second, Meade 137, by two.

Mike White, Lochgelly                    70-71-69–210
Bob Bird, Charleston                     71-71-69–211
Brian Meade, Chapmanville         66-71-75–212
Matt Cooke, Parkersburg              73-71-69–213
Barry Evans, Charleston               73-72-69–214
Dick Wedzik, Bridgeport                71-70-73–214
Scott Davis, Hurricane                   72-67-75–214
a-Harold Payne, Hurricane           73-68-74–215
a-Mike Good, Charleston              72-73-71–216
Greg Meade, Logan                        72-70-74–216
Brad Westfall, Kingwood               70-72-74–216
Ty Roush, Mason                            74-70-72–216

 

1992:   Brad Westfall romped to an eight-stroke victory in the 59th West Virginia Open at the Pines Country Club in Morgantown.  Westfall opened with a 68 to trail by one but an even-par 71 in the second round gave him a five-shot lead.  He kept up the pressure with a final 70 for a 209 score.  Fairmont’s Eric Shaffer, the State Amateur champion and a Marshall University golfer, finished second with a 217 total.  Shaffer tied the course record with 64 in a practice round.  Shaffer cut Westfall’s lead to four strokes in the final round but Westfall regained his momentum when he hit a 310-yard drive on the long 10th hole and then a short iron to 10 feet of  the cup for a birdie.  “”I wanted to win this one for Preston Country Club.  I owed them that,” said Westfall, the pro at Preston.  “”The crowd was great. I felt like I was playing at home. I must have brought half of Preston County with me.”   Eric Kirsch, a Steubenville, Ohio, resident who’s a member at Williams Country Club in Weirton, took the first round lead with a 67 and ended up tied for third at 218. Ty Roush had a closing 69 for 218.  Scott Davis had an up-and-down tournament with 70, 80 and 69 rounds for 219.  Ron Millione of Morgantown used a four-iron to ace the 170-yard 12th hole in the first round.  A record field of 156 entered.  Leaders by rounds: first, Kirsch  67, by one; second, Westfall 139, by five.

Brad Westfall, Kingwood                       68-71-70–209
a-Eric Shaffer, Fairmont                         73-71-73–217
Ty Roush, Mason                                    74-75-69–218
a-Eric Kirsch, Steubenville, Ohio         67-78-73–218
Scott Davis, Hurricane                           70-80-69–219
Bill Shriver, Gauley Bridge                     71-77-71–219
Barry Evans, Charleston                        73-74-72–219
a-C.J. Pagliaro, Jr., Fairmont                76-74-71–221
a-Brad Greenstein, Huntington            73-75-73–221
a-Mike Good, Charleston                      70-77-74–221
Hill Herrick, White Sulphur Springs    73-75-73–221
a-Jack Forbes, Morgantown                 72-74-75–221

 

1993:  Harold Payne scored his fourth victory in the West Virginia Open and pulled off  his third sweep of the state’s top two golf tournaments.  Payne finished nine strokes under par in shooting a 207 score for 54 holes at Pipestem State Park.  He finished two strokes in front of defending champion Brad Westfall, who had a 209 total and earned the low pro prize.  Payne won his fifth State Amateur title earlier in the year.  He accomplished the same Amateur-Open sweep in 1986 and 1987, with his other Open triumph coming in 1988.  “”It’s a special feeling to win the Amateur, but to win when you have pros playing is really nice.  To win them both in the same year is a tremendous feeling,” Payne said.  He joined Clem Wiechman as a four-time Open champion, and the only golfer to win more is Sam  Snead with 17 titles.  Payne shot a first round 69 to trail co-leaders Ty Roush and Barry Evans by two strokes.  Roush’s round included eight straight one-putt greens.   Payne fired a four-under-par 68, which included six birdies, in the second round to lead by a stroke over Evans.  Payne kept his lead with a final round 70. Westfall had a 69 to take second place while Roush finished third at 211 and Evans was fourth at 212.  Leaders by rounds: first, Evans and Roush 67s; second, Payne 137, by one.

a-Harold Payne, Hurricane                  69-68-70–207
Brad Westfall, Kingwood                      73-67-69–209
Ty Roush, Mason                                   67-72-72–211
Barry Evans, Charleston                       67-71-74–212
Dan Poling, Grafton                               68-72-74–214
Terry Smith, Paden City                         71-69-74–214
a-Mike Good, Charleston                      71-74-71–216
Craig Lindsey, Charleston                    75-69-72–216
Bill Robertson, Pipestem                      73-71-72–216
David Lawrence, Poca                           72-74-72–218
a-Evans Harbour, Hurricane                 70-75-73–218

 

1994:  Brad Westfall defeated Scott Davis on the second playoff  hole to capture the title in the $11,000 West Virginia Open on Oglebay Park’s Speidel course in Wheeling.  Both finished with one-under-par 141 totals for 36 holes. The first day’s round of the scheduled 54-hole tournament was rained out. Westfall shot a sparkling 68 in the final round to force the playoff  with Davis, who had a 73.  On the first playoff  hole, Westfall two-putted from 25 feet for a par while Davis hit a fine recovery shot out of  the rough and over a trap to within inches of the cup to save his par.  The second playoff  hole found Davis with a 30-foot putt and Westfall with a 18-footer for birdie. Davis’ putt broke just before the hole and trickled to the right. Westfall then drained his downhill putt for the victory.  “”I was just trying to hit it hard enough to give it a chance to go in,” said Westfall, who used a long putter. Davis commented, “”That was a great shot he made to win.”   It was the second Open victory for Westfall who went first-second-first the past three years.  Westfall earned $2,200 and Davis got $1,650.  Finishing two strokes behind them was amateur Brad Greenstein, a Marshall University golfer.  Greenstein shot a 68 to share the first round lead.  Davis fired a course record 66 in the pro-am.  Leaders by rounds: first, Greenstein, Davis and Jay Jamieson 68s.

Brad Westfall, Kingwood                    73-68–141
Scott Davis, Hurricane                         68-73–141
a-Brad Greenstein, Huntington          68-75–143
Greg Meade, Logan                              71-73–144
Jay Jamieson, Bridgeport                    68-76–144
Barney Thompson, Barboursville       73-72–145
a-Harold Payne, Hurricane                  72-73–145
Brian Meade,  Chapmanville               74-72–146
Dan Poling,  Grafton                              73-73–146
a-Evans Harbour, Hurricane                72-75–147
a-Kirk Nolte, Wheeling                          71-76–147
a-Steve Fox, Huntington                        71-76–147

 

1995:  Long-hitting Scott Davis overpowered the 6,982-yard Canaan Valley Resort course with several drives more than 300 yards while capturing his third West Virginia Open title.   Davis led every day with rounds of  66, 69 and 69 for a 204 total — 12 under par.  He finished five strokes in front of  runnerup Greg Meade.   Davis received a first place check of  $1,200.  “”It’s hard to win leading all the way because there’s more pressure on you. But I’d rather be out front.  I was apprehensive today until I got started and my golf swing held up.  Then I relaxed,”  Davis said after his victory.  He said the long Canaan Valley course suited his game and it showed.  He made an eagle and six birdies and was five under par on the par-five holes in his opening round.   Davis added nine more birdies in his next two rounds.  Play on the final day was interrupted twice by lightning and rain.  Meade had three steady rounds of 69, 70 and 70 in finishing second.  Michael Swiger finished third at 210 and received $500 in merchandise as the low amateur.  Joel Davis shot a 68 in the second round and Steve Hussey had a 69 with eight birdies in the third round.  Beckley pro Phil Wiechman aced the 214-yard fourth hole with a three-iron in the first round. Leaders by rounds:  first, Scott Davis 66, by two; second, Scott Davis 135, by three.

Scott Davis, Hurricane                          66-69-69–204
Greg Meade, Logan                              69-70-70–209
a-Michael Swiger, Weirton                   70-69-71–210
Barney Thompson, Barboursville      68-71-73–212
Ty Roush, Mason                                  69-70-73–212
a-Steve Hussey, Parkersburg            71-72-69–212
a-Joel Davis, Oak Hill                           70-68-75–213
a-John Duty Jr., Hurricane                   70-70-73–213
a-Mike Meade, Bluefield                       70-70-74–214
a-Evans Harbour, Hurricane               69-74-71–214
Brian Meade, Chapmanville                69-75-70–214
Steve Superick, Fairmont                     73-71-70–214

 

1996:  In a battle of veteran pros, Barney Thompson defeated John Ross on the first hole of  a playoff at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club in Hurricane to win his third Open title.   Both ended the 54-hole tournament with 209 scores after missing key putts on the final hole.  Ross lipped out a 15-footer for a possible winning birdie while Thompson was short with his approach, chipped to 10 feet and missed the par-saving putt.  In the playoff on the 420-yard ninth hole, Ross skied his tee shot and his three-wood second shot landed on a hillside right of the green.  He pitched well past the hole and missed the putt, making a bogey.  Meanwhile, Thompson put his six-iron second shot on the back fringe and two-putted for a winning par.  Thompson won $3,000 and Ross got $2,100 out of the record purse of $26,000.  “”It’s always nice to win, anywhere.  To win in front of  friends is special.  It was hard on me. You don’t want to let anyone down,” Thompson said.  Brent Johnson shot a 65 in the second round to take a two-stroke lead but a final 74 left him two shots back at 211.  Harold Payne finished fifth at 213 and received a $500 gift certificate as low amateur.  Larry Haddad of Charleston aced the 199-yard sixth hole with a three-iron.  Pro Davey Lawrence and amateur Sam O’Dell both shot 67 rounds.  Leaders by rounds: first, Thompson 66, by two; second, Johnson 137, by two.

Barney Thompson, Barboursville                66-73-70–209
John Ross, Freeman                                     68-72-69–209
Brent Johnson, Weirton                                 72-65-74–211
Todd Westfall, Kingwood                              72-70-70–212
a-Harold Payne, Hurricane                           71-72-70–213
Barry Evans, Charleston                               72-68-75–215
a-Evans Harbour, Hurricane                        71-68-77–216
John McNaney (hometown not listed)        71-70-76–217
Brian Meade, Chapmanville                         69-74-74–217
a-Mike Meade, Bluefield                                68-72-77–217

 

1997:  It took an extra day but touring pro John Ross finally won the rain-delayed West Virginia Open at the Glade Springs Resort in Daniels.  Ross posted a 211 total for 54 holes and finished three strokes in front of  Scott Davis and Gary Blake. Play was suspended during the third round due to rain and lightning with 27 players still on the course and Ross holding a two-stroke lead with six holes left to play.  After a 2 1/2-hour delay, the tournament committee ruled that the course was unplayable and decided to resume play the next day.   Ross sank two birdie putts to maintain his lead in the final six holes the next morning.  Ross earned $4,800 for his victory plus $625 for being low pro in the pro-am.   “”It feels good to have another shot at it and pull it off this time,” said Ross, who lost in a playoff  in 1996.  Ross said that having his name engraved on the Open trophy alongside the names of  SamSnead and other past champions was a real honor.  “”It’s something that I’ll cherish,” he said.  Davis and Blake both earned $2,750 for their second place tie.   Sam O’Dell shot a final round 68 to tie Pat Carter at 215 for low amateur.  O’Dell, 19, sank a 10-foot putt on the first playoff  hole to earn the low amateur prize of a $500 gift certificate.  Barney Thompson shot the low round of  67 and finished at 222.  Leaders by rounds: Davis 70, by one; second, Ross, Blake and Barry Evans 140s.

John Ross, Freeman                              71-69-71–211
Scott Davis, Hurricane                            70-72-72–214
Gary Blake, Mineral Wells                      72-68-74–214
a-Sam O’Dell, Hurricane                        76-71-68–215
a-Pat Carter, Huntington                         75-68-72–215
Ty Roush, Mason                                     76-72-69–217
Barry Evans, Charleston                         72-68-77–217
Ken Guilford, Sissonville                        73-73-73–219
a-Jamie Conrad, Fayetteville                 74-69-77–220
a-Steve Fox, Huntington                          73-71-76–220
Brent Johnson, Weirton                          72-72-76–220
a-Michael Veres, Chapmanville            73-72-75–220
a-Alan Stealey, Clarksburg                    72-74-74–220

 

1998:  Host pro Scott Davis staged a final round charge before his friends and members at Edgewood Country Club near Sissonville to capture his fourth Open title.  Davis trailed by four strokes beginning the round but shot a five-under-par 67 and won by five shots with a 209 total.  He was quick to take advantage after amateur Pat Carter lost his lead by knocking a ball into a pond on the fifth hole for a double bogey.   Davis seized command with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes and widened his lead with three more birdies on the back nine.  “”I’m a West Virginia boy and winning the State Open for the fourth time thrills me, especially at my home club.  I can’t believe I did it. I believe I tied Harold Payne with four Open wins and that’s a neat thing for me,” Davis said, referring to his former Marshall teammate.  Davis won $5,000 out of a total purse of $25,000.  John Ross birdied the last hole to finish second at 214.  Carter made eight birdies while shooting a 66  in the second round for a three-stroke lead but a final 77 left him tied for third with Brad Westfall at 215.   Michael Veres and Jamie Whitt both had 66 rounds.  A record field of 165 entered the Open.  Edgewood assistant Ken Guilford fired a 66 to win the pro-am.  Veres bested Carter on the final hole to win the first Open shootout.  Leaders by rounds:  first, Gary Blake and Todd Westfall 70s; second, Carter 138, by three.

Scott Davis, Hurricane                           71-71-67–209
John Ross, Freeman                             72-69-73–214
Brad Westfall, Morgantown                   72-70-73–215
a-Pat Carter, Huntington                        72-66-77–215
Jonathan Clark, South Charleston      75-68-74–217
Barry Evans, Charleston                        77-69-72–218
a-Zach Wood, Moundsville                    73-74-72–219
David Lawrence, Nitro                            73-73-73–219
a-Kirk Satterfield, Bluefield                    75-71-73–219
Jamie Whitt, Huntington                         79-66-74–219
Todd Westfall, Gauley Bridge                70-72-77–219

 

1999:  Once he recovered from an 800-mile trip, John Ross took charge of  the Open at Guyan Golf and Country Club in Huntington.  A tired Ross had 72 in the first round but with some much-needed rest shot 68 and 67 in the final two rounds for a 207 total — six under par.  His seven-stroke victory give him his second Open title and a $5,000 check.  Ross won a TearDrop Tour event worth $35,000 in Decatur, Ala., the Sunday before the Open.  He drove all night to Huntington to compete in the Open Monday pro-am and then drove to his home in Mercer County to pick up his wife before returning on Tuesday.   Ross took a three-stroke lead into the final round but felt pressure from Guyan assistant Jonathan Clark and amateur Pat Carter.  Ross said his key shot was a downhill 30-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole.  “”I honestly hit that putt hard enough to go six or seven feet, and I watched it roll and roll and roll until it disappeared,” Ross said.  That touched off a streak in which Ross birdied five of eight holes to pull away.  Clark shot a 71 to finish second at 214 while  Carter had a 72 for third place at 216 and the low amateur prize.  Burke Spensky, 17, tied for fourth at 217.  Bud Tate of Vienna spent his honeymoon playing golf and did well with a 226 score. Davey Lawrence beat Carter on the last hole to win the Open shootout.   Leaders by rounds: first, Scott Davis 70, by one; second, Ross 140, by three.

John Ross, Freeman                            72-68-67–207
Jonathan Clark, South Charleston     74-69-71–214
a-Pat Carter, Huntington                       71-73-72–216
Mike Good, Charleston                         73-73-71–217
a-Burke Spensky, Huntington              73-71-73–217
a-Sam O’Dell, Hurricane                       72-72-76–220
Brad Westfall, Morgantown                  75-72-73–220
Todd Westfall, Hurricane                      75-74-71–220
Scott Davis, Hurricane                           70-75-76–221
Barry Evans, Charleston                       72-75-74–221
a-Brad Greenstein, Huntington            72-74-75–221
Dave Wentz, Cross Lanes                     \74-73-74–221